Table of Contents Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Acknowledgements Introduction Part I - Simplicity and Power—Reiki Healing Energy Chapter 1 - The Discovery of Reiki Chapter 2 - Reiki and Energy Chapter 3 - Healing and Wholing Chapter 4 - Training in Reiki Part II - Activating Your Healing Channel—Reiki First Degree Chapter 5 - Reiki First Degree Training Chapter 6 - Self-Healing with Reiki Chapter 7 - Treating Family and Friends Chapter 8 - Being Creative with Your Reiki First Degree Skills Part III - Developing Your Understanding—Reiki Second Degree Chapter 9 - Reiki Second Degree Training Chapter 10 - The Reiki Second Degree Symbols Chapter 11 - Hands-on Treatments Using Symbols Chapter 12 - Distant Healing Techniques Chapter 13 - Other Uses for the Reiki Symbols Chapter 14 - Creative Uses for Your Second Degree Skills
Part IV - The Japanese Tradition Chapter 15 - The Importance of Self-Cleansing Chapter 16 - Additional Techniques from the Japanese Tradition Part V - More Steps Along the Reiki Path Chapter 17 - The Importance of Spiritual Development Chapter 18 - Becoming a Practitioner Chapter 19 - Third Degree Reiki Chapter 20 - Other Forms of Reiki Resources Further Reading Index
JEREMY P. TARCHER/PENGUIN Published by the Penguin Group Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario M4P 2Y3, Canada (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.) Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England Penguin Ireland, 25 St Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd) Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty Ltd) Penguin Books India Pvt Ltd, 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi-110 017, India Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, North Shore 0632, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd) Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd, 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England Originally published in the UK by Piatkus 2002 First published in the United States by Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin 2010 Copyright © 2002, 2009 by Penelope Quest All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions. Published simultaneously in Canada Most Tarcher/Penguin books are available at special quantity discounts for bulk purchase for sales promotions, premiums, fund-raising, and educational needs. Special books or book excerpts also can be created to fit specific needs. For details, write Penguin Group (USA) Inc. Special Markets, 375 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Quest, Penelope. Reiki for life: the complete guide to reiki practice for levels 1, 2 & 3 / Penelope Quest. p. cm. eISBN : 978-1-101-40439-3 1. Reiki (Healing system) I. Title. RZ403.R45Q.8’51--dc22 Neither the publisher nor the author is engaged in rendering professional advice or services to the individual reader. The ideas, procedures, and suggestions contained in this book are not intended as a substitute for consulting with your physician. All matters regarding your health require medical supervision. Neither the author nor the publisher shall be liable or responsible for any loss or damage allegedly arising from any information or suggestion in this book. While the author has made every effort to provide accurate telephone numbers and Internet addresses at the time of publication, neither the publisher nor the author assumes any responsibility for errors, or for changes that occur after publication. Further, the publisher does not have any control over and does not
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This book is dedicated to Mikao Usui, without whom the world would not have received the wonderful gift of Reiki.
Acknowledgments I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to the many people who have helped, directly or indirectly, with this book: To Kristin Bonney, who started me on my Reiki journey and set me a good example to follow; To William Lee Rand, who initiated me as a Master in Usui Reiki, Usui/Tibetan Reiki and Karuna Reiki®, and who encouraged me to always be myself in Reiki; To Frank Arjava Petter and Chetna Kobayashi, for bringing the first translation of Usui’s original Reiki manual to the West; To Hiroshi Doi, and his students Andy Bowling and Ann Rogers, for their knowledge and experience of the original Japanese techniques; To the Reiki Association, and to Light and Adonea, for the information about different forms of Reiki; To the UK Reiki Federation, for the information on legal issues; To the many spiritual teachers who have guided and inspired me, especially Gill Edwards, Karen Kingston, Mike Robinson, and Orin and DaBen; To my friends and fellow Reiki Masters Carol and Mark Melling, Wendy Monks and the Rev. Simon John Barlow, for the inspirational example they set as people who really “walk their talk”; To my son, Chris, and daughter, Kathy, for their loving support and practical help; And to all my Reiki students, for the love and learning they have brought me.
Introduction Reiki for Life is aimed at anyone interested in healing and self-healing with Reiki at any level, from absolute beginners to Practitioners and Masters. Unlike other books on Reiki, it is a complete guide to Reiki practice, giving all the Reiki techniques from the well-known Western tradition, including some never in print before. It also presents additional methods originally used by Dr. Mikao Usui, the founder of the Reiki healing system, which until recently were only available to Reiki students in Japan. The book explores for the first time the true depth, power and promise of this wonderful healing system. From the development of Reiki in both Japan and the West to a comprehensive description of First and Second Degree techniques, it provides an essential resource for Reiki practice in the twenty-first century. It looks at the necessary background information about energy and metaphysical beliefs and provides a thorough foundation in the basics of self-treatment and how to treat others with Reiki at First Degree. However, it goes much further than other books: it emphasizes the holistic nature and spiritual aspects of Reiki and examines the personal and spiritual impact of becoming a Practitioner or a Master. It explains in detail how to carry out distant healing treatments and methods to heal and let go of personal problems as well as many other advanced techniques. In addition, it shows how the newly discovered Japanese techniques for energetic cleansing, healing and spiritual development can be used to enhance your practice of Reiki. Its aim, therefore, is to help anyone at any level to reach his or her full potential as a healing channel for Reiki. There are traditionally three levels of qualification in Reiki. Reiki First Degree opens up the inner healing channel so that people can then use it for self-healing and healing others for the rest of their lives. At Reiki Second Degree three sacred symbols are taught, as well as some special techniques that intensify the Reiki and enable people to carry out effective distant (absent) healing, as well as other methods that promote deep healing of physical, mental and emotional problems. Reiki Third Degree is the level of a Reiki Master—someone who has committed his or her life to learning the mastery of Reiki, and who is qualified to teach others this amazing and powerful healing system. Part I of the book begins by explaining what Reiki is and how it was
discovered, and how it links with other energies in humans, animals, plants and the rest of the environment. It discusses the processes of healing from both conventional and traditional viewpoints, and provides comprehensive information about Reiki training, including what to expect from courses at each level. Part II covers everything you need to know at Reiki First Degree, including methods for self-healing and how to carry out treatments on other people and animals, as well as some creative ways of using Reiki. In Part III there is a thorough explanation of the real impact and creative power of Second Degree, including how to use the Reiki symbols for self-healing and hands-on treatments of others, and how to carry out distant healing. A wide range of other advanced techniques is included, too, such as using Reiki to empower goals, heal emotional problems, create sacred space and protect yourself and those you care about. Part IV introduces techniques only recently brought to the West from the Japanese Reiki traditions, including methods for self-cleansing and removing toxins from the body, as well as alternative ways of using the hands, such as patting and stroking, during Reiki treatments. The final section, Part V, looks at the importance of spiritual development with Reiki, and discusses what is needed to set up as a professional Practitioner, as well as how to become a Reiki Master. Since the beginning of the 1990s, interest in complementary medicine and alternative therapies has increased tremendously. Everywhere you look or listen there are television and radio programs and newspaper and magazine articles on holistic health and healing, and ways to improve your life physically, emotionally, psychologically and spiritually. For me the turning point was taking a course in Reiki, a hands-on healing technique that originated in Japan, and from that day in 1991 my life has changed for the better. I began my journey of personal and spiritual discovery back in the 1970s with a growing interest in psychic abilities, but since that first Reiki course my main focus has been mind-body healing techniques and spiritual growth, although I have also developed skills as a clairvoyant and psychic channel. I worked for three years as a Reiki Practitioner before becoming a Reiki Master/Teacher of both the Usui Shiki Ryoho and Usui/Tibetan traditions in 1994, and a Karuna Reiki® Master/Teacher in 1996. In 2000 and 2003 I gained further experience and qualifications in the original techniques of Dr. Usui, the founder of the
modern system of Reiki healing, which had only just been rediscovered after research into the Reiki traditions in Japan. Over the past ten years or so I have continued to extend my knowledge and experience by studying a wide range of subjects, including meditation and visualization, NLP (neurolinguistic programing), kinesiology, metamorphic technique, Native American and contemporary shamanism, dowsing, feng shui and other topics that promote understanding, personal growth and a holistic view of the person. But my first love is, and always will be, Reiki. My professional background and qualifications are in psychology, education and management, but in 1996 I gave up my career as a lecturer and senior manager at a college to enable myself to devote more time to teaching and writing books about Reiki. My first paperback, An Introduction to Reiki, was published by Piatkus in March 1999 (revised in 2007 as The Basics of Reiki). I then began to realize that because the way Reiki training is carried out has changed significantly in recent years, many students were not able to get the best out of their use of Reiki, so I decided to write this second book. I chose the title for this book, Reiki for Life, for several reasons: first, because once you have acquired the ability to access Reiki healing energy, you retain that ability for the rest of your life. Second, because Reiki promotes healing and well-being for the whole person, it is definitely “for” an improved life. And third, the title reflects the fact that Reiki can potentially transform your life, as it stimulates personal and spiritual growth, encourages healthy changes in lifestyle, increases inspiration and intuition, and brings about realizations of our deeper, spiritual nature, which can be powerful and life-changing. Until the late 1980s relatively few people were qualified to practice or teach Reiki, but during the 1990s there was an explosion of interest in all forms of healing, particularly in the West, and there are now probably several million people throughout the world who “have” Reiki—that is, they have acquired the ability to access this healing energy to help themselves and others. The emphasis throughout Reiki for Life is on enjoying the healing and selfhealing benefits of Reiki, and having fun being creative with it, while still treating it with the respect that it deserves as one of the world’s most precious gifts for healing and spiritual growth. I wish you joy on your Reiki journey.
Part I Simplicity and Power—Reiki Healing Energy
Chapter 1 The Discovery of Reiki In this chapter we deal with what Reiki is and the meaning of the word Reiki, how, when and where Reiki was discovered, and how it has developed as a healing system both in the West and in Japan, where it originated. WHAT IS REIKI? Reiki is a safe, gentle, nonintrusive hands-on healing technique for use on yourself or with others, which uses spiritual energy to treat physical ailments without using pressure, manipulation or massage. However, it is much more than a physical therapy. It is a holistic system for balancing, healing and harmonizing all aspects of the person—body, mind, emotions and spirit—and it can also be used to encourage personal and spiritual awareness and growth. THE WORD REIKI The Japanese word Reiki (pronounced Ray Kee) is usually trans - lated as “Universal Life-force Energy,” or “God-directed Life-force Energy,” or “Spiritual Energy.” The word is divided into two parts: Rei is translated as the “wisdom and knowledge of all the Universe” or “atmosphere of the Divine.” It means the Higher Intelligence that guides the creation and functioning of the Universe; the wisdom that comes from God (or the Source, the Creator, the Universe or All That Is), which is all knowing, and which understands the need for and the cause of all problems and difficulties, and how to heal them. Ki is the life-force energy that flows through every living thing—plants,
animals and people—and that is present in some form in everything around us, even in rocks and inanimate objects. Reiki is represented in the Japanese Kanji (Japanese alphabet) calligraphy in two slightly different ways. The image on the left is the more modern form, while that on the right is an older and more traditional way of writing the word Reiki. In Japan the word Reiki can be used to describe any form of healing using spiritual energy, but in the West when we talk about Reiki we are usually referring to the form of healing practice developed by a Japanese Buddhist priest, Dr. Mikao Usui (1865-1926), who, after many years of study, discovered a way of accessing and using this healing energy, and of passing this ability on to other people. During the last few years of his life he founded Usui Reiki Ryoho, which means the Usui Spiritual Energy Healing Method, and this has become widely known throughout the world as simply “Reiki.” HOW REIKI CAME TO THE WEST
Reiki as a healing system has been used and taught in the West since the late 1930s, and until the early 1990s the story of how Reiki was discovered was an oral history, handed down from teacher to student in a very traditional way. This story told that Dr. Mikao Usui was a learned scholar who taught in a Christian seminary. One day he was challenged by one of his students, who asked him if he believed in the Bible stories of Jesus’s healing, and, if so, when were they going to be taught how to heal? It was said that, as an honorable Japanese gentleman, upon realizing that he could not teach his students any healing techniques, he dedicated the rest of his life to finding out how Jesus and the Buddha had been able to heal. He was said to have traveled widely and learned other languages in order to research both Christian scriptures and Buddhist teachings, including Japanese and Sanskrit Sutras (sacred texts). He finally ended up in a Zen Buddhist monastery, where the Abbot advised him to meditate to find the answers he was seeking. Then, at the end of a 21-day fasting retreat, Dr. Usui was apparently struck by a great light. He saw the sacred symbols he had earlier found during his research, and he acquired a deep understanding of them, receiving a spiritual empowerment (empower means “to give to” or “to enable,” and a spiritual empowerment means to transfer wisdom, insight and ability by means of an inpouring of spiritual energy) and achieving enlightenment, a state of spiritual insight brought on by joining with and becoming one with the Light. When it was over, despite weakness after his long fast, he was able to rush down the mountain, but he injured his foot in his haste. When he bent down to hold his toe, he found that the bleeding had stopped, the pain had gone away and he was healed. Later he healed a young girl’s toothache and his friend the Abbot’s arthritis, so he came to realize that he had finally discovered the healing power for which he had been searching. The story then told that he spent many years healing people in Japan before passing his knowledge and teachings on to Dr. Chujiro Hayashi (1879-1940), a naval commander. After Dr. Usui’s death Hayashi was said to have opened a Reiki clinic. One day in 1935 a young woman from Hawaii named Hawayo Takata (1900-1980), who was visiting relatives in Japan, came to the clinic for treatment of a serious illness. She was so impressed with the success of her treatment that she begged to be able to learn Reiki, and Hayashi eventually agreed to teach her. Takata lived with his family and worked without pay in his clinic in exchange for the privilege of being able to learn the first and second levels of this healing
system. She returned to Hawaii in 1937 and opened the first Reiki clinic in the West, where Hayashi and his family visited her. He passed on the final level of the Reiki teachings to her in 1938 before he returned to Japan, so that she would be able to teach this healing art to others. The story Mrs. Takata told was that during World War II all of Hayashi’s Reiki students in Japan were killed, and she was therefore the only Reiki teacher alive. Mrs. Takata continued to teach Reiki and run her clinic in Hawaii, but also traveled extensively throughout the U.S. and Canada, treating people with Reiki and teaching them how to use Reiki for themselves. She held classes in two levels of Reiki training, which she called First Degree and Second Degree. However, it was the 1970s before she began to impart the final level of teachings, the Third Degree, which she called Reiki Master (a rough translation of “Sensei,” meaning “respected teacher” in Japanese), so that others would be able to pass on the teachings when she had gone. By the time of her death in December 1980, after 42 years of teaching Reiki, she had trained the following 22 Masters, and it is through them that Reiki has spread so widely throughout the Western world: George Araki Dorothy Baba Ursula Baylow Rick Bockner Patricia Bowling Barbara Brown Fran Brown Phyllis Furumoto Beth Gray John Gray Iris Ishikuro Harru Kuboi Ethel Lombardi Barbara McCullough Mary McFadyen Paul Mitchell Bethel Phaigh Shinobu Saito Virginia Samdahl Wanja Twan
Barbara Weber Ray Kay Yamashita Mrs. Takata established a system of teaching Reiki that survives to this day, although in the last twenty years there have been several changes made by various Masters, which will be outlined in later chapters. She taught the system in three levels, as taught by Hayashi. However, she adapted the teaching to suit Western students, for example, teaching First Degree or Second Degree as workshops held over just a few days, rather than expecting students to work in her clinic for months. However, Master level was usually taught as a form of apprenticeship, working alongside Takata for perhaps a year. Mrs. Takata used the ceremonial spiritual empowerment that Hayashi had taught her, which she called an initiation, to transfer the healing ability to her students. She also taught the four Reiki symbols. These are sacred shapes which alter the way Reiki can be used and which also increase its strength. Reiki treatments were carried out using a series of 12 basic hand positions, each held for five minutes, and she encouraged her students to treat themselves with Reiki every day. In addition, realizing that in the West her students related money to importance, and wanting people to value the incredible gift of Reiki, she charged high course fees—U.S. $150 for Reiki 1, $500 for Reiki 2, and $10,000 for Reiki 3. To put this into context, in the early 1970s when Takata began to teach Reiki Masters, $10,000 would buy a house in the United States. THE DEVELOPMENT OF REIKI IN THE WEST After Hawayo Takata’s death, a group of her Masters met in Hawaii in 1982 to discuss how Reiki should progress, and who should become the next leader, or “Grand Master.” It appears that there were two “favorites” for the post—Phyllis Lei Furumoto, Mrs. Takata’s granddaughter, and Barbara Weber Ray. Phyllis agreed to follow in her grandmother’s footsteps and was therefore elected by the majority of the Masters. Soon afterward Dr. Barbara Weber Ray broke away to found her own system of Reiki called The Radiance® Technique, which she later renamed Real Reiki®. That historic first meeting in 1982 allowed Western Reiki Masters to share their experiences for the first time, and they discovered differences in the way they had been taught—perhaps because Mrs. Takata had taught the system as an
oral tradition, not even allowing her student Masters to take notes. They made some decisions to standardize the system and these have had a major influence on the development of Reiki in the West, establishing what we now call the Western tradition of Reiki. The Masters agreed on how the system should be taught and the exact form of each of the four Reiki symbols. They also adopted the same pricing structure Mrs. Takata had inaugurated. At a further meeting in British Columbia in 1983, The Reiki Alliance was formed. This is an organization of Reiki Masters who recognize Phyllis Lei Furumoto as the Grand Master, and whose purpose is to support each member as teachers of the Usui System of Reiki. Until 1988, following the tradition that her grandmother had started, only Phyllis Furumoto, as Grand Master, was entitled to train other Masters, but in a gathering at Friedricksburg that year she announced that any suitably experienced Master could teach other Masters. This significant decision is what opened up Reiki in the West to the inevitable changes that result from expansion. By the early 1990s the number of Masters and Practitioners had grown extensively, and an increasing number of Masters moved away from the system agreed on by the Reiki Alliance to work independently, changing the way Reiki was taught. Written manuals and books about Reiki began to appear, additional hand positions were used, extra symbols were added, and the time between levels was shortened, so that sometimes Reiki 1 and Reiki 2 were taught on two consecutive days. The way the Master level was taught also changed considerably. Instead of an apprenticeship system, where one or two trainee Masters would work alongside an established Master for a year or more, the Reiki Third Degree began to be taught in large groups in courses lasting just a few days. Also, students were allowed to progress through the three levels very quickly—often within one year, and sometimes within only a few months or even weeks. This resulted in a massive expansion in the number of Masters, with a consequent growth in the number of people learning First and Second Degree Reiki, so that Reiki rapidly spread all over the world. NEW INFORMATION ABOUT REIKI In the late 1990s new information began to come to the West from Japan, which revealed that Dr. Usui had been a Buddhist priest, not a Christian priest, and that
he had passed his complete teachings on to 17 people, not only to Chujiro Hayashi. It turned out that not all the Reiki Masters in Japan had been killed during World War II, and it became apparent that Reiki had continued to be taught there for the whole of the time since Dr. Usui’s death. Indeed, an organization existed which was dedicated to preserving the original teachings of Dr. Usui—the Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai. This fuller and more accurate picture of Reiki’s discovery and development came particularly from two men—Frank Arjava Petter, a European Reiki Master living and working in Japan with his Japanese wife, Chetna Kobayashi, and Hiroshi Doi, a Japanese Reiki Master who has trained in both Japanese and Western Reiki traditions. Others who have contributed to our current knowledge of Japanese Reiki include Dave King, Melissa Riggall and Robert Jefford, all of whom have spent time researching in Japan. THE BACKGROUND TO THE DISCOVERY OF REIKI We now know that Dr. Usui was born in Taniai-mura (now Miyamacho) in Japan on August 15, 1865, and that he began his study of Buddhism at the age of four, when he was sent to a monastery school run by Tendai Buddhist monks. He studied martial arts from the age of 12, reaching the highest levels of Menkyo Kaiden by his mid-twenties and of other ancient Japanese systems as he got older, including Ki-Ko, the Japanese form of the Chinese martial art and energy balancing system known as chi kung. He also learned meditation and healing. During his adult life Dr. Usui held many different jobs, including a government officer, a businessman, a journalist and secretary to the Mayor of Tokyo. For a while he is also said to have worked as a missionary (quoted on his memorial stone), although where and to what purpose is unclear, although it may refer to his prison work. However, as he lived a relatively normal life with a wife and children, it is unlikely that he was a cloistered monk. He is believed to have converted from Tendai to Shingon Buddhism by the time he was 27, and is known to have studied other forms of Buddhism from the Shinto and Mahayana (Mikkyo) sects. At the age of 53 he began a three-year training in Zen Buddhism. As he grew up Usui was undoubtedly influenced by the expansiveness which was characteristic of the reign of Emperor Mutsuhito (known as the Meiji Emperor), who came to the throne when Usui was nearly three years old. During
his reign, known as the Meiji Restoration period (1868-1912) a new wave of openness began as Japan’s previously closed borders were opened for the first time in many centuries. The country changed from an agrarian economy to an industrial one, and this resulted in an eagerness to explore the benefits of Western influences, with a consequent freedom for Japanese nationals to travel outside their own country. Many Japanese scholars were sent abroad to study Western languages and sciences, and Dr. Usui is known to have traveled widely, and to have pursued a life of study. It states on his memorial, situated in the graveyard of the Seihoji temple in Tokyo, that he visited China, the U.S. and Europe, and that he was fond of reading, acquiring knowledge of medicine, history, psychology and world religions. As part of his training in Zen Buddhism Usui would have been working toward achieving Satori, the state of Spiritual Enlightenment. His memorial confirms that he had an experience of mystical enlightenment on Mount Kurama, near Kyoto. Early 1922 is the most probable date, since this follows his entry into Zen Bud - dhism in 1918, although several Japanese books give the date as 1914. Apparently after advice from his Zen Master, he decided to undergo shyu gyo, a strict spiritual discipline involving meditation and fasting for 21 days, until he either died or became enlightened. On the last morning of his fast he experienced “a great Reiki over his head” (quoted on Usui’s memorial), which enabled him to be - come enlightened, and to acquire the ability to access healing en - ergy (Reiki) and to pass that ability on to others. Dr. Usui then spent the few years before his death on March 9, 1926, at the age of 60 practicing and teaching his healing system—Usui Reiki Ryoho, or the Usui Spiritual Energy Healing Method—during which time he passed on his knowledge to others so that the teachings could continue. His memorial states: “If Reiki can be spread throughout the world it will touch the human heart and the morals of society. It will be helpful for many people, not only healing disease, but the Earth as a whole.” His wishes have come true, perhaps even beyond what he could have envisaged, and there are now millions of people around the world using Reiki. THE DEVELOPMENT OF REIKI IN JAPAN It is a facet of Japanese culture that knowledge or important information is
normally kept secret (or sacred, as the words are synonymous in the Japanese language) within family groups, which is the main reason why it has taken so long for accurate information to come to the West about Reiki’s development. Initially Dr. Usui is believed to have used Reiki only on himself and his family, and it is reported that Reiki cured his wife of a serious illness at that time. However, so important did he realize his discovery to be that he decided to begin teaching people how to access this healing energy, and he made Sho-den (the first level of Reiki training) “freely available to all of the people”—a direct quote from one of his teaching manuals, the Usui Reiki Hikkei. There is reliable information, provided on Usui’s memorial, that about 2,000 people learned Reiki from Dr. Usui (which he also called Teate, meaning “healing hands”), but most of these would only have achieved the first level of training, Sho-den (meaning “the entrance”), equivalent to First Degree in the West. It appears that between 30 and 50 people may have learned the second level, Okuden (meaning “the deep inside”), equivalent to the Western Second Degree, but not more than 17 acquired the third level, Shinpi-den (meaning “the mystery/secret teachings”), which is what we call Third Degree, or Reiki Master. They included five Buddhist nuns, four naval officers and eight other men, but little else is known about them, despite the fact that all of Dr. Usui’s students who achieved Oku-den and Shinpi-den were recorded with the Education Departments in Japan. However, some of these records may have been lost in the earthquake which affected Tokyo in 1925. The following ten are listed: Juzaburo Ushida (rear admiral) Kan’ichi Takatomi (rear admiral) Tetsutaro Imaizumi (rear admiral) Chujiro Hayashi (admiral) Haru Nagao (occupation unknown) Toshihiro Eguchi (schoolteacher) Yoshiharu Watanabe (philosopher) Sono’o Tsuboi (tea ceremony Master) Imae Mine (musician) Masayuki Okada (author of the inscription on
Dr. Usui’s memorial) In April 1922 Dr. Usui opened his first clinic in Harajuku, Tokyo, where he practiced and taught Reiki. His healing skills must have been extraordinary, as he was renowned all over Japan, and admired as “the pioneer of restarting Hands-on Healing from past generations” (a quote from his memorial), and the number of people helped by Reiki is reported to have been several hundred thousand, including many of those injured in the Tokyo earthquake on September 1, 1923—although this number must have included people helped by Dr. Usui’s students, as well as those helped by him personally! (Usui became well known for this work and was apparently praised by the then-emperor, Taisho.) The emphasis of Dr. Usui’s teaching was as much about a spiritual awakening as on purely physical healing. The importance of self-healing was therefore imparted, as well as the benefits of living a “proper” life, using the Reiki principles as a foundation, which he adopted from the Meiji Emperor. Below is a version of these principles that comes from an original document written in Dr. Usui’s own handwriting (in Japanese Kanji), which has now been translated and appears in Frank Arjava Petter’s book The Legacy of Dr. Usui:
In addition, Dr. Usui used 125 inspirational poems (Gyosei) from the Meiji Emperor Mutsuhito as a guide to his students in their personal and spiritual development. Here is one example of the stylized Waka (also called Tanka) poetry written by Emperor Mutsuhito which Dr. Usui taught to his students: The Wave One moment stormy The next it is calm The wave in the ocean Is actually Just like the human existence. All 125 Waka poems are given in Spirit of Reiki, by Walter Lubeck, Frank Arjava Petter and William Rand. He incorporated other aspects of his many years of Buddhist and martial arts training into his Reiki teaching, including meditation, self-cleansing and a simple but powerful method of spiritual empowerment called Rei-ju, as well as some Shinto and Ki-Ko energy practices. It seems that he worked intuitively on people, placing one or both hands wherever he detected energy imbalances that seemed in need of healing. Once he began to teach others to do Reiki he found that instructions were needed, and he wrote the Usui Reiki Hikkei, which was a manual to be given to his students. Frank Arjava Petter and his wife, Chetna Kobayashi, have translated a copy of Dr. Usui’s manual (The Original Reiki Handbook of Dr. Mikao Usui, by Frank Arjava Petter, Lotus Press, 1999), and it gives instructions for the treatment of particular illnesses and parts of the body using specific combinations from the total list of almost 70 hand positions. THE FOUNDING OF THE USUI REIKI RYOHO GAKKAI Mikao Usui is also credited with founding the Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai (meaning the Usui Reiki Healing Method Learning Society), an organization dedicated to keeping the Reiki teachings alive, although it is possible that his followers started it after his death, naming Dr. Usui as the founder as a mark of respect. This society has continued to practice and teach Reiki uninterrupted since 1926, the first few leaders being Shinpi-den students taught by Dr. Usui.
They do not take the title of Grand Master, but are simply referred to as presidents of the society, and they are listed as: 1. Mikao Usui 2. Juzaburo Ushida 3. Kan’ichi Taketomi 4. Yoshiharu Watanabe 5. Hoichi Wanami 6. Mrs. Kimiko Koyama 7. Masayoshi Kondo (from 1999) The Gakkai members follow Dr. Usui’s teachings very closely, and they have in their possession two manuals produced by Dr. Usui (the Usui Reiki Hikkei). One of these contains an explanation of his energy healing method, the Usui Reiki Ryoho, and the other gives details of the various healing techniques, including specific hand positions for different diseases and physical problems, as mentioned above. The Gakkai holds regular meetings in Tokyo and elsewhere in Japan for their members, where the students sing Waka poetry, chant the Reiki Principles and do Hatsurei-ho (a combined meditation and cleansing practice); each time they attend they receive a Rei-ju empowerment from one of the six Shinpi-den members, for cleansing, purification and to strengthen their ability to access Reiki. CURRENT ISSUES WITHIN THE REIKI COMMUNITY For a number of years questions have been asked about why the story Mrs. Takata told about the rediscovery of Reiki became Christianized, but this may well have been because both during and after World War II she was training people in the U.S. in a Japanese technique based on Buddhist teachings. Perhaps without introducing the idea that Dr. Usui was a Christian priest, things might have become very awkward for her. We now realize that it would have been very unlikely for Dr. Usui to train as a Christian priest, because Christianity was banned in Japan until 1873, well after Dr. Usui began his Buddhist training. No record can be found of Dr. Usui’s attending or teaching at any of the Japanese or U.S. colleges or universities that Mrs. Takata included in her story (my Reiki Master, William Lee Rand, has letters from each of the institutions confirming that no record of Mikao Usui can
be found as either a student or teacher). When in the late 1990s information came out of Japan about a range of techniques that did not seem to have been taught in the West through the Takata lineage—for example, the Hatsurei-ho, a meditation and self-cleansing technique, or alternative ways of using the hands during treatments, such as Oshi-te Chiryo-ho, tapping with the fingertips (see Chapter 16)—there was confusion, even indignation, in the Reiki community. Some people wanted to reject the new information, and stick to what they already knew, while others wanted to throw out all they had learned in the West, and use only the techniques from the Japanese traditions. Others were angry that they had been denied the chance of learning these valuable methods, and were critical of the Western lineage. The spirit of Reiki training in the West was probably originally very similar to that in Japan. However, it seems possible that Mrs. Takata did teach many of what we now know were Dr. Usui’s original methods, although she did not use their Japanese names. Some methods were seemingly only taught to Masters. Perhaps because the Masters she trained were not allowed to take notes, they simply forgot, or they did not realize the importance of some of the techniques because they did not come from a Buddhist background, where the spiritual and energetic significance of each method would have been more obvious. EXPLORING THE DIFFERENCES We know that in Japan the numbering of the levels is reversed, so what we would refer to as the first level, Sho-den, equivalent to our First Degree, is actually their sixth degree, which is itself divided into four parts: Loku-To (Sixth Degree), Go-To (Fifth Degree), Yon-To (Fourth Degree) and San-To (Third Degree). This is probably why we have four attunements in the traditional Western system of teaching Reiki. Sho-den can be learned by anyone, but the second level, Oku-den, which is divided into two parts, Okuden-Zenki when the symbols are taught, and OkudenKoko when distant and mental healing methods are taught, is only given when a student can demonstrate that they are accessing an appropriate amount of Reiki healing energy, and are proficient in the techniques, which may take ten years or more. Students are expected to practice Reiki daily, to obey the five Principles and to
make an effort to live those principles in their daily lives, encouraging mental and emotional growth and development. They are also expected to practice Hatsurei-ho daily, for self-cleansing and spiritual enhancement, and to continue their spiritual development, partly by attending regular training seminars where they receive Rei-ju attunements. Receiving these regular Rei-ju attunements helps students develop their intuitive skills so that they become better able to detect and treat physical illnesses. This process is called Byosen, which is being able to feel energy from a source of illness, and being able to judge a symptom and the number of days of healing that will be required; or Reiji, where the hands go intuitively to affected areas and start sending Reiki. Very few people in Japan ever reach the advanced level of Shinpi-den, the equivalent of a Western Reiki Master, even after many, many years of practice. Reiki has developed differently in the West, perhaps because we have not had the same spiritual background or the cultural understanding of energies resulting in the need for a self-cleansing tradition. Although some Masters did bring their students together regularly to practice Reiki, no Rei-ju empowerments were given, because these were unknown to us until 1999. There has also been less emphasis on developing sensitivity in the hands with Reiki, which probably accounts for the system we have of 12 or more hand positions being held for five minutes each. This enables the Reiki to flow everywhere in the body, so that each person can receive the Reiki wherever they need it. Since Mrs. Takata’s death many Masters have chosen to change the way Reiki is taught, so that there are now more than 30 different types of Reiki being practiced in the West. Some are based very closely on Takata’s system, while others have introduced many new “channeled” (receiving insight from spiritual sources) symbols, different attunement procedures and other practices, and no doubt more will appear in the future. However, now that we have discovered Dr. Usui’s original techniques these can be integrated into Reiki practice, so we have even more tools available to us. The aim of this book is to show the enormous potential of integrating these two healing systems, whose roots are firmly based in Eastern philosophy and wisdom, but whose body is expanding with the collected wisdom of many Western and Japanese Masters and Practitioners. In the next chapter we look in more depth at Reiki as a healing energy, and at its relationship to other energies such as those that comprise the human energy body.
Chapter 2 Reiki and Energy Reiki is an energy—as explained in the last chapter, the word means spiritual energy or universal life-force energy. When we use it in healing, it acts holistically, affecting all of the energies that comprise the human body or animals or anything else in the natural world. To make later sections easier to understand, I want to first introduce energy in a wider context, especially electromagnetic energy, because this is what makes up our physical body as well as the energy field that surrounds and interpenetrates it. ENERGY IS ALL THERE IS We talk about “energy” in different ways, perhaps referring to energy sources such as coal, gas, wind power or electricity, or the caloric value of food, but the definition of energy is much broader than that. Einstein and later quantum physicists have explained that at an atomic level everything that exists in the Universe is energy, vibrating and oscillating at different rates; that physical matter and energy are just two forms of the same thing. So energy is all there is. We are familiar with some of these energetic vibrations, such as sound, light, radio waves and X-rays. These are all part of the electromagnetic spectrum, and from a scientific perspective the only difference between these various forms of energy is that each oscillates at a different frequency or rate of vibration. Human beings are also comprised of electromagnetic energy, and every cell, atom and subatomic particle that makes up the human body is vibrating at different rates depending upon their biochemical makeup. For example, the specific electrical output of the human heart can be measured on an ECG machine (electrocardiogram). Also, the electromagnetic output of the whole body can be measured using an electromyograph, and the normal biological frequency for the human body is around 250 cps (cycles per second). However, some research that is very relevant to our understanding of human energy was
carried out on a variety of people, recording the output at sites on the body traditionally associated with high-energy spots known as chakras (from the Sanskrit word for wheel or vortex), and some very interesting results were obtained. Most people in the study recorded the normal range, around 250 cps, but when the tests were carried out on people who used healing energies (such as Reiki) and others who actively used their psychic ability, it was found that their frequencies registered in a band between 400 and 800 cps. Even higher frequencies—more than 900 cps—were found in people who were described as “mystical personalities.” These people were not only psychics and healers, but also followed a very spiritual path and were able to meditate deeply; moreover, they felt a connection to everything in nature and beyond, and held holistic and metaphysical beliefs. As you will see in later chapters, when I talk about Reiki “raising your vibrations,” there is now scientific evidence to prove that’s true. But what is interesting is that science has finally confirmed something that has been part of the spiritual wisdom of many cultures for thousands of years—that an unseen energy flows through and connects all living things. This energy has various names, depending upon the culture or spiritual tradition, probably the most commonly known being Ki (Japanese) and Chi or Qi (Chinese), but it can also be referred to as Prana (Indian), Light or Spirit or the Holy Ghost (Christian), or as Vitality or Life force. As this book is about Reiki I will refer to it by its Japanese name, Ki, or as life force, but before we examine Reiki’s connection to this life-force energy in more detail, I want to explain the human energy body in greater depth. THE HUMAN ENERGY BODY The physical body is something we all know about—we can see it and feel it— yet every cell in it is still energy or light, vibrating at a slow enough rate to make it into visible physical matter. However, surrounding and interpenetrating our physical body is another body of energy, this time made up of much finer and lighter vibrations, which is most commonly called the aura, the auric field or the human energy body. This auric field is as much a part of you as your physical body—indeed, your physical body is really just the densest inner layer of this flowing energy field.
However, the higher frequencies of the energies that make up the aura mean that it is harder to see with the naked eye, although it can be detected by some scientific equipment, and can also be photographed using a specially developed Kirlian camera. Each person’s energy body has its own distinctive energy signature—its energetic vibrational frequencies are unique, just as fingerprints are unique to each individual. In addition to the aura, our energy body contains some energy centers known as chakras and a range of energy channels flowing through the body called meridians. Perhaps the easiest way of understanding this is to think of your energy body in similar terms to your physical body. The aura is the energy equivalent of your whole physical body, the chakras are equivalent to your brain and major organs, and the meridians are similar to your veins and arteries, but instead of blood, they carry energy—Ki—all over the body. The Aura This is a field of energy or light that completely surrounds the physical body above, below and on all sides. It is made up of seven layers, with the inner layers closest to the physical body being comprised of the densest energy, and each succeeding layer being of finer and higher vibrations. Most people have an oval (elliptical) aura, which is slightly larger at the back than at the front, and fairly narrow at the sides, and it also stretches above the head and below the feet. A person’s aura is not always the same size—it can expand or contract depending upon a variety of factors such as how healthy you are, how you are feeling emotionally or psychologically at any given moment, or how comfortable you feel with the people who are in your immediate surroundings.
The seven layers of the aura. This aura is spiritual energy that is present from birth (and possibly before) until death. After physical death, no aura can be detected, because the life force no longer exists. However, in a living person the outer edges and the individual layers of the aura can be detected using dowsing rods or a pendulum, and can also be sensed with the hands. The densest layers, nearest the body, can also be seen with the naked eye with a little practice. Painters over the centuries have depicted the aura around the heads of angels, saints and prophets as a bright golden halo, indicating their pure and spiritual energy.
Detecting auras is the first thing I teach in my Reiki classes. Apart from being great fun it also allows people to gain a real understanding of the concept of energy and life force before they learn to use the higher vibrations of Reiki healing energy to permeate, clear, balance and energize the whole energy body. For the majority of people, the layers of the aura seem to be alternately positive and negative energy—not meaning good or bad, but simply indicating a different set of vibrations, similar to positive and negative polarities in magnetism. However, some people’s auric layers are all the same—all positive, or all negative—and others have the first three layers positive, and the next four negative and so on. Each person is individual, so there is no “right” or “wrong” in this—just as there is no “right” or “wrong” about having dark hair instead of blonde. That’s just the way it is. The biggest shock for most people is finding out how large the aura can be. Of course it varies from person to person, and it changes from day to day anyway, but the outer layer of the aura can be anywhere from about 2 meters (6½ ft) to 20 meters (66 ft) or even farther away from the person’s physical body. This means that, whenever we are with other people, our auras are intermingling, and whether or not we are mindful of it we are “picking up” signals from other people’s auras all the time. Although we may not be consciously aware of the fact, we all use our auras as sensing devices—what you might call “the eyes in the back of your head.” Have you ever felt particularly drawn to sit next to someone or felt a sense of discomfort when sitting next to someone else, even though you don’t know them? This could be because your aura has already “picked up” either complementary or disturbing energies within the other person’s aura. Or have you ever experienced a strange prickling sensation at the back of your neck when someone has been looking at you from behind? Perhaps you have been able to sense the atmosphere within a room before you have even opened the door? Not surprising, really, when you consider that your aura may extend 10 or more meters (30 or more feet) ahead of you, so that it is already in the room picking up the vibrations of other people’s auric fields; this is because the finer and lighter vibrations of auric energy can pass through the denser energy of physical matter. The Chakras
Chakra is a Sanskrit word meaning wheel or vortex, and there are seven major chakras in the human energy body located at (1) the base of the spine/perinium, (2) near the navel, (3) at the solar plexus, (4) in the middle of the chest, (5) in the throat, (6) in the center of the brow and (7) at the crown of the head. In addition there are more than 20 minor chakras, for example, in the palms of the hands, on the knees and on the soles of the feet. A healthy chakra can be seen psychically vibrating evenly in a circular motion, resembling a funnel that is fairly narrow close to the body, but that becomes wider as it gets farther away. The seven major chakras. Chakras are an essential part of our body’s energy system, because they are intimately connected with our physical health. Each is linked with specific parts of the body and to systems within the body. You will see in later chapters that when carrying out a Reiki treatment, either on yourself or on another person, your hands are placed near the major chakras, as this is where life-force energy —and Reiki—can be most easily absorbed, transformed and distributed
throughout the physical and energy bodies. It is also possible to become sensitive enough to “read” our own or others’ energy bodies so that the Reiki healing energy can be directed into those areas that need it. When a particular chakra is healthy, balanced and open, so are its connected body parts, but if a chakra is blocked, damaged or closed, then the health of the connected body parts and systems will begin to reflect this. Our chakras, like our aura, are affected by everything that happens to us—good things as well as bad. For example, falling in love has an amazingly beneficial effect on our whole energy body, making it sparkle and zing with color, whereas emotional or mental traumas, and even negative words, can have detrimental effects on our energy levels. When we use the term “broken heart” to describe the feeling of devastation after the loss of a loved one, this is actually reflected in the energy body, as the heart chakra appears to have breaks or tears in it. Feeling “choked” with emotion appears as imbalances in both the throat and the heart chakras; the sacral chakra, near our navel, is the seat of our creativity, so “writer’s block” might show as a dark mist or spots indicating obstruction in the natural flow of energy there. In the chart opposite I have shown not only each chakra’s number, name and location, but also the color vibration, body parts and systems linked with it, and the aspects of our lives associated with it.
The Meridians Meridians are the final component of the human energy body, and the easiest way to describe them is that they are the energy equivalent of the arteries and veins that carry our blood around our bodies. Meridians are the channels that carry our life force, or Ki, around our body, and the major meridians route the energy longitudinally through the body, connecting with all of the body’s major organs, but there are other smaller meridians (nadis) that crisscross throughout the body, connecting all the parts together so that Ki can flow everywhere. It is on these Meridians that the various points exist that are used in complementary therapies such as acupuncture or acupressure, or that connect all parts of the body with the areas on the feet and hands used in reflexology. THE HUMAN ENERGY BODY AND HEALTH The state of the energy body is a very important element in the health of any individual, because if blockages and damage in the aura are not cleared and healed, they can eventually manifest themselves as physical illness or disease. Everything that happens to us affects the aura, whether they be negative or positive experiences, although of course it is the negative experiences that create the blockages and eventual damage.
Every negative thought you have ever had, every negative word you have spoken, will have had an effect on your aura and whole energy body, although these effects would normally only be lasting if the negative thoughts and words were consistently repeated. Similarly, any negative words spoken to you, or negative actions performed against you, can potentially form damaging energy patterns in your aura, particularly if they evoke your emotions. Even reading the newspapers, which are usually filled with negative news, or watching violent or horror movies or television programs, has a dampening effect on your energy field. All of these things will lower your energy body’s vibrations, or life force, but fortunately we are able to take in more life force, or Ki, every day, and thankfully our lives are not normally filled only with negative experiences. The positive experiences we have—the love and affection from our family and friends, watching children at play, viewing a beautiful sunset, the satisfaction of a creative project or success at work—all contribute to raising our vibrations, or Ki, so the effects balance out for much of the time. It is therefore only major traumas and significant negative experiences that have the opportunity to damage our energy field beyond our normal ability to replenish and repair it. The Role of Ki—Life-force Energy Knowledge that our bodies are filled with life-force energy—Ki—and that this is directly connected to the quality of our health, has been part of the wisdom of many cultures for thousands of years, and has resulted in the development of many different forms of “energy medicine.” Some of these require direct physical contact with the body, such as acupuncture, shiatsu and reflexology, while others are taken into the body in various forms, such as herbal, homeopathic and flower remedies. Of course it is not only people who have energy bodies. All animals, birds, fish, insects and plants have detectable auras and, indeed, so do what we might term “inanimate” objects, such as rocks, crystals, minerals, metals and water. The amount of Ki or life force within you varies from day to day—there is a natural rhythmic ebb and flow in the energies within our bodies—but we absorb Ki in various ways in order to “top up” our supply of life force, as we naturally use some each day. We absorb some in the form of food and drink—remember, all animal and plant life, and even water, is filled with Ki too—and we also take
in Ki from the air we breathe and absorb it through our auric fields. Ki energy is everywhere; it is the connective force of the Universe so there is a limitless supply. The levels of life force in our bodies have an impact on our inherent healing ability, as Ki helps to nourish the structure, organs and systems of the body, supporting them in their vital functions and contributing to the healthy growth and renewal of cells. However, the amount we absorb is not constant, and can depend on many factors, so we don’t always sufficiently replenish our supply of Ki. If this happens over some time our energy body can become too depleted, and this is when we become weaker and more susceptible to illness, the aging process and even physical death, because our Ki, or life force, is what defines us as living beings. Without it we would not be alive. This means that when our Ki is high and flowing freely around our whole energy body, we feel healthy, strong, fit and full of energy. We also feel confident, ready to enjoy life and take on its challenges, and are much less likely to become ill. However, if our Ki is low, or if there is a restriction or blockage in its flow, we feel weak, tired, listless and lethargic, and are much more vulnerable to illness or “dis-ease.” REIKI AS AN ENERGY The difference between Ki (life-force energy) and Reiki (spiritual energy, or universal life-force energy) is: • Ki is the energy that surrounds and permeates everything. • Reiki is a specific band or frequency of energy for healing and selfhealing that works synergistically with Ki, but at a higher vibration. Reiki comes directly from the Source (or God, the Creator, All That Is) and is directed by that Higher Intelligence for healing (or wholing) anything, whether animate or inanimate. Because Reiki energy is vibrating at a very high rate it is not normally visible to the human eye, but its use can be detected by a Kirlian camera, and some people do see it, usually as a white/ gold stream of energy similar to the spiral shape of the DNA double helix. However, unlike Ki, which is present everywhere and in everything, Reiki does not flow automatically through
everyone from birth. It flows only through people who have been “attuned” to its vibrational frequency. This attunement, or spiritual empowerment, is the way in which the healing ability of Reiki is passed energetically from a Reiki Master to a student during a sacred ceremony, which is a vital part of a Reiki course or workshop. Connecting with Reiki Energy—the Spiritual Empowerment In Buddhism a spiritual empowerment is a familiar but very special element in spiritual practice, and it is where wisdom, existential knowledge, insight and ability are passed from the Master by thought and intention deep into the student’s mind, body and spirit. You may remember that Dr. Usui received a spiritual empowerment on Mount Kurama, where he achieved a deep knowledge and understanding of the Reiki symbols, and acquired the ability to heal. The spiritual empowerment that is carried out by a Reiki Master is similar in nature, but less powerful, since Dr. Usui received the whole understanding and the full strength of Reiki in one single empowerment from the Highest Source, which also allowed him to become enlightened. As he had been involved in spiritual practice for about 50 years by that time, he was no doubt energetically far better prepared for such a tremendous experience and vast amount of healing energy than any of us would be. In Usui Reiki there are a number of spiritual empowerments spread out between the various levels, so that the student has time to “acclimatize” to the levels of energy involved. We usually call these sacred ceremonies initiations or attunements, as they “initiate” the student into a new life with Reiki (initiate means to begin) and “attune” the student to the unique vibrations of the Reiki spiritual healing energy (attune means to bring into harmony with). The attunement sets up an energetic channel in the student, through which the Reiki energy can flow from the Source, through the student’s energy body—the crown, brow, throat and heart chakras—and out through the hands.
The flow of Reiki after attunement. In effect, this attunement “reopens” an existing channel within our energy body to our enlightened selves—our Soul/Spirit/Higher Self—that part of us that is always and completely connected to the Source/God/All That Is. While the Reiki may appear to come from outside ourselves, entering through the crown chakra, this only seems that way because we have a limited awareness of our whole existence, and cannot “see” the full extent and potential of our being, our Soul/Spirit/Higher Self, extending way beyond the confines of our physical
bodies. The “spiritual empowerment,” which takes place during the attunement, is just that: it empowers a part of our spirit, Reiki, which we did not consciously know how to access before, so that we become aware of it for the first time. As soon as students have received this attunement they are able to access and use Reiki healing energy for themselves or to treat others. They will continue to be able to do so for the rest of their lives, as this healing energy comes through our Higher Selves, channeled from an inexhaustible source—God/Creator/All That Is/The Universe—whenever we want it to. This “instant” acquisition of healing ability is one of the things that makes Reiki unique, but is probably also the most puzzling aspect of it to Western minds. We are not accustomed to anything so valuable being achieved so effortlessly, yet in the East spiritual empowerments are a well-known and accepted way of acquiring energy, knowledge, wisdom or insight. However, although Reiki may have its roots in Eastern spiritual practices, it is not a religion, so it can be made available to anyone, regardless of their personal beliefs. Also, Reiki does not depend on a person’s intellectual capacity or level of spiritual development, so people of all ages and from all backgrounds can acquire the ability to channel Reiki healing energy simply and easily by attending a Reiki First Degree class and receiving the attunement. No specialized knowledge or skills are required, so Reiki is a very accessible way of learning how to help yourself and others. REIKI ENERGY AS A HEALING TREATMENT After an attunement a student can use Reiki on themselves or on other people. Many people who train in Reiki go on to become Practitioners or therapists, offering Reiki treatments in their own homes or natural health centers and even in some hospitals and clinics. The process of a Reiki healing treatment is very simple, and the person receiving it will usually either lie on a massage table or sit in a chair, and they can remain fully clothed, although they are usually asked to remove their shoes. When people who have been attuned wish to use Reiki, they do not need to go through any complicated ritual—simply intending to use Reiki starts it flowing into their energy body, as shown in the illustration on page 30, and out through the palms of their hands. The Practitioner then places their hands very gently on
specific places on the head and body of the person who wishes to receive a Reiki treatment, and either holds them still, or occasionally taps gently with the fingertips or pats lightly with the flat of the palm, so there is no need for massage or pressure of any kind. (More information on hand placements is included in chapters 6 and 7.) Because Reiki is a very high vibrational energy, it can flow into, over and through anything, including solid matter. This enables it to work holistically on the whole person—chakras and aura, body and mind-consciousness, emotions and spirit. As Reiki flows into our aura and physical body, it helps to break down energetic disruptions or blockages, clearing and balancing the chakras and straightening the energy pathways (meridians) to allow the life-force to flow in a healthy and natural way around the whole body. This influx of high-frequency healing energy stimulates and accelerates the body’s own natural healing ability, so that pain relief and physical healing can take place quickly and easily—sometimes at quite extraordinary speed. Also, because Reiki is guided by a Higher Intelligence, it can make its way to those areas of the physical body and energy body that are most in need of healing, without any conscious direction from either the healer or the recipient. In addition, Reiki automatically adjusts to suit the recipient, so that each person receives as much or as little as they need, at an appropriate rate of flow. Reiki acts to heal, harmonize and balance the whole self, and as it is guided by a higher wisdom and always works for the highest good of the person receiving it, it cannot be harmful in any way. The potential for healing with Reiki is unlimited, so anything can be treated, but it is important to rid yourself of specific expectations of what it will do, and how fast it will perform. Many physical symptoms can be eased very quickly, while others may need lots of Reiki before starting to respond. However, it is essential to remember that it is a person’s own body—either your own, if you are self-treating, or a client’s if you are treating someone else—that is actually doing the healing, as you will see in the next chapter. Occasionally people report amazing, even miraculous, effects from Reiki treatments, while some gain partial or complete relief from symptoms for a time, and others experience little obvious effect. Reiki is not a guaranteed “cure-all,” because “healing” is not always the same as “curing.” Healing does not always occur on the physical level first. Because Reiki works holistically and is guided by a Higher Intelligence, it may be that healing needs to happen first at the emotional level, with the releasing of anger, guilt or hatred, or it may be required first at the mental level, releasing negative
thoughts, concepts or attitudes, before the physical symptoms can be addressed. Also, healing is a very personal issue, and if ten people displaying identical physical symptoms were given Reiki, there would be ten potentially different outcomes, because their mental, emotional and spiritual states would not be the same. Ultimately, if the healing is to be permanent you have to take responsibility for healing the cause. This may mean changing how you think or the way you relate to other people, or even altering your whole lifestyle, from your diet and home environment to your close relationships and your job or career. However, when Reiki flows through you it can help with these adjustments too, allowing you to approach the changes in a calm, relaxed and accepting state of mind. In the next chapter we take a broad look at healing, and at why people become ill, as well as at the role Reiki can play in achieving health and well-being.
Chapter 3 Healing and Wholing Healing is described in the dictionary as “to be restored to health; to repair by natural processes, as by scar formation; to cure,” but the origin of the word itself is “making whole.” To make whole means healing on all levels—the mind, emotions and spirit as well as the body. As we saw in the last chapter, the use of Reiki helps to clear blockages in a person’s energy field. It works holistically— healing, harmonizing and balancing the whole person—to promote better health and greater well-being. However, before we look in more depth at the ways in which Reiki can be used for healing, I want to introduce the topic of healing in a more general sense, from the way your physical body repairs itself to conventional and metaphysical approaches to healing, including looking at illness as a message from your body. You will then be able to see in later chapters how Reiki fits into the whole healing process. THE PHYSICAL HEALING PROCESS On a purely physical level, our bodies have an amazingly sophisticated and intelligent set of healing processes to repair and maintain themselves, from our vital organs to our bones, muscles and skin. Inside our bodies, cells are continuously lost through wear and tear and replaced by cell growth and division. At one time it was believed that a few parts of our bodies—notably, the brain and the nervous system—were unable to be repaired or replaced in this way once we reached adulthood; however, new research has shown that even these cells can replicate, given certain conditions. During each year 98 percent of the cells in your body are replaced, so in effect you have virtually a new body each birthday. Your bone cells take about three months to regenerate your skeleton, although the calcium in the bone takes longer, about a year; your liver gradually replaces itself roughly every six weeks; your skin is renewed monthly, and your stomach lining every four days.
This constant replication and repair is what enables all physical healing to take place—without it, we would all probably bleed to death from our first childhood cut! Of course, many things can impact on your body’s natural healing ability; whether you eat a healthy, balanced diet; whether you drink plenty of water so that you are not dehydrated; whether you are too tired or under a great deal of stress; your age and general state of health; and so on. For example, poor nutrition reduces healing rates and increases susceptibility to infection, which further delays healing, and studies have also proved that psychological stress has a similar delaying effect on the body’s healing processes. HEALING AS A HOLISTIC ISSUE So from the above information you can see that healing is not something that happens “out there,” something that someone else “does” to you. There is really only one “healer” of your body, and that is you, because your body possesses the mechanisms to heal itself, so all anyone else can do—whether that person is a doctor, a nurse, a complementary therapist or a Reiki “healer”—is to kick-start that natural process in some way, whether by conventional or alternative means. Of course, your body copes every day with lots of potential hazards. For example, if it is invaded by a virus, such as the common cold, your immune system is mobilized, and all those rather unpleasant symptoms you experience, such as a high temperature and a runny nose, are actually the effects of your body fighting off the infection, rather than effects from the virus itself. Indeed, taking medication to lower your temperature when you have a simple cold could be undoing much of your body’s good work, because the virus is being killed off by the rise in temperature (although of course there are some circumstances when it is essential to bring body temperature down if it gets dangerously high— for example, in small children). So if your body is so good at healing itself, why are there times when it is not completely well? Why do people continue to suffer from chronic or incurable illnesses? The reason is because healing—and health—are holistic issues, not simply physical ones. As an example, your body produces precancerous (altered) cells every day, but almost all the time your immune system detects and destroys them. However, if your immune system is not operating as effectively as usual, then it is possible that not all of them will be destroyed.
There are a number of possible reasons for this: perhaps your body is already struggling to fight off another major infection, or your immune system has been seriously affected by some stressful event such as a close bereavement (or even a happy but nevertheless stressful event like a wedding), or because your body does not have the right nutritional balance to work at optimum strength. Any of these causes, and there are many other possibilities, can be at the root of the growth of cancerous cells in an otherwise healthy body. In many cases even if this happens, providing the immune system can return to normal working capacity fairly quickly it will tackle any early cancerous growth and destroy it, and you will be none the wiser. If the cancer develops, of course, there are various conventional medical interventions that can help: surgery, chemotherapy, radiation treatment. But you have probably also heard of people who have gone on to develop mature cancerous growths, yet who have managed to mobilize their own body to destroy the cancer, sometimes with astonishing speed, even without medical intervention. These people always have a very positive attitude and an overwhelming determination to “get better,” as well as having supportive people around them to help them to release emotional blockages and gain insight into the reasons for their illness. Also, they have generally a variety of techniques such as Reiki or spiritual healing, or other complementary therapies, to help them to activate their own healing ability, because the causes of any serious illness are likely to be complex and multileveled. THE HEALING/CURING DICHOTOMY This brings us to the relationship between healing and curing. Let us start by unraveling some common misconceptions. Many people use the words “healing” and “curing” interchangeably, yet they don’t necessarily mean the same thing. Curing means to eradicate an illness or disease completely, whereas healing can occur on many different levels: 1. Healing on the physical level: this might mean eradicating an illness completely, or it could simply mean limiting or alleviating the symptoms for a time. 2. Healing on the emotional level: this could allow you to calm any fears and to reach an acceptance of the effects of the illness. 3. Healing on the mental (psychological) level: this could enable you to
think differently about your illness, perhaps bringing to your attention the lessons your illness is trying to teach you, and promoting understanding of the causative issues. 4. Healing on the spiritual level: this could enable you to develop a more loving and forgiving relationship with yourself, or perhaps even to make a peaceful transition into death. Let’s take one graphic example to demonstrate the difference between healing and curing. In the case of someone who develops gangrene in the lower part of their leg, it may be necessary to amputate the leg below the knee in order to cure the illness. Hopefully, if the disease has been caught in time, the gangrene will indeed be eradicated, and in practical terms the body’s normal repair and replication processes will heal the wound caused by the operation. However, an amputation certainly does not heal the person, because such an operation has an enormous psychological, emo - tional and even spiritual impact upon the person. It can have a broad range of effects, from the way the person views themselves and how easy or how difficult it is for them to accept their new body image; to the person’s relationships with other people—whether they still feel loved, or attractive, or whether they expect (or receive) rejection from others because of their disabling condition. It impacts also on the way they live their lives on an everyday level, coping with the challenges to mobility or dexterity that the loss of a limb can cause; their beliefs about their future aims, ambitions and potential, and possibly even whether they believe life is worth living anymore. Healing is therefore a very personal thing, but many people still seem to think of it as being healing at a physical level, whereas the reality is much wider. Even medical science is at last coming around to an understanding that healing is not simply a collection of physical processes; it involves the whole person—body, mind, emotions and spirit. A HOLISTIC AND METAPHYSICAL VIEW OF HEALING There are three possible ways of thinking about health and healing: 1. The biomedical model